– You took me away from my business for something like that? – I said grudgingly.

– Nonsense? – He frowned.

– Exactly.

– You're crazy! – Markus sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

– If you think I share your views on such a subject, I'm afraid you're fatally mistaken," I said.

I had reason to be annoyed: the talk of love and my mother's hints that I should be related to one of the vampire families were driving me from my indifferent existence. All this talk was a joke to me, a ridiculous play directed by an inept director.

– You're ridiculous," Markus said sharply. – Have you ever loved anyone but yourself?

– The very word didn't fit my life. Love. Being a slave to a woman was not my thing. – And why did I feel like the hero of a bad melodrama at that moment?

– When I saw her, something in my heart exploded. – Markus turned away from me, apparently offended by my words.

– In that case, I pity your heart.

– I saw that beautiful vampire and realised that from now on my heart was beating only for her. Everything happened swiftly and imperceptibly. – It was as if Markus was drowning in his own thoughts and didn't hear me.

I was getting more and more annoyed: Markus was well aware of how much I hated this kind of talk. You're in love and to hell with you! What was the point of notifying me?

– Love is just a metaphor people invented to explain attraction to each other. Don't tell me I'm going to fall into that trap someday," I said ironically, anticipating a moral judgement.

– How childish you are! – grinned my brother.

I was tempted to throw him something caustic, but when I looked into his dreamy, yet serious eyes, I realised that Markus had opened his soul to me, and that I was mocking him. And I was deeply ashamed.

– I'm sorry. I went too far," I said conciliatingly. I was ashamed of my behaviour. Only now did I realise how deep my brother's feelings for his lover were.

– Don't apologise for your stupidity," he mumbled. – My trifling life changes seem enormous to me alone. You have never loved and cannot understand me!

– I don't think I ever will. – I spoke the truth, for I really thought love and all that goes with it was downright stupidity. – I don't want love.

– Do you think she'll ask your permission?

– I'm already in love," I grinned, trying hard to keep myself from sounding annoyed.

– What news! And with whom? – Markus asked mockingly

– The moon and the sunset.

My brother looked at me like I was crazy. Then suddenly he laughed out loud. I watched his tantrum with an impenetrable face and waited patiently for it to subside. Finally, Markus pulled himself together and gave me a mocking look.

– You're comparing loving a girl to loving a sunset? With your notions of love, you can only entertain children and write books for losers to justify their failure with the opposite sex!

Markus was always a joker, and his irony never missed the punch line.

I chuckled unwillingly.

– Who knows, maybe in the future this book will be a success among mortals! – I said with a laugh. – But now make it clear: who is the lucky girl?

– Do you remember Mroczek family? – my brother asked me instead of answering. – The Polish clan?

At the mention of the object of his affection, Markus's eyes warmed.

With a slight smile on my lips, I nodded.

"One of the Mroczek girls, then?" – I thought.

– Mariszka. – Markus exhaled the name with such favour that I could barely keep from laughing derisively. It was entertaining to watch him – had love really changed him that much?

"Mariszka. Ah, yes. The thin beauty with hair the colour of ripe wheat," I remembered and smiled.

– Well, congratulations to you: she's really good," I congratulated my brother, deciding that Mariska Mroczek was indeed perfect for a serious vampire like him.

– She's gorgeous," he corrected me.

– You know better," I smiled.

Despite my fair prejudice against love, I was happy for my brother. He'd believed in love, and he'd looked for it, and waited for it, just like people do. And at last he had found what he longed for.

I neither sought nor believed. The words "love", "seek", and "wait" seemed disgusting to me. Only humans can be so naive.

– I hope… No, I'm sure you'll find your life partner soon," Markus said with a smirk.

– Don't start a comedy," I grinned wryly.